About Us

Lectenz Bio

Who We Are

Lectenz Bio is a company dedicated to providing novel, effective glyco-research and bioprocessing tools. Our mission is to empower innovation by making glycoscience simple. We accomplish this goal by employing a strong team with diverse expertise in high performance computing and wet lab science. It is through this interdisciplinary approach that we developed our patented Lectenz and GlycoSense platforms—offering new, easy to use ways to study glycobiology.

Glycosensors and Diagnostics

Where We Came From

Lectenz Bio (fka Glycosensors and Diagnostics) was spun-out from the research group of Prof. Robert J. Woods at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, located at the University of Georgia. We established operations in 2009 at Innovation Gateway, home to several biotechnology companies in Georgia’s Innovation Crescent. In 2013, the company established its satellite operations in San Diego, California as a resident company of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS. In 2016, we graduated from JLABS and relocated to the San Diego Science Center. In 2017, as part of commercialization the company rebranded as Lectenz Bio.

Since establishing operations, we formed collaborations with experts in academia and industry and secured non-dilutive funding through grants, contracts, and partnerships. We have received multiple awards, honors, and recognitions. These accomplishments were achieved by validation of key aspects of the Lectenz^® platform, addition of our GlycoSense^TM platform, and led to the development of the Lectenz^® product pipeline. The company was issued a patent for the Lectenz^® platform technology and is expanding and protecting its intellectual property portfolio.

Lectenz Bio Members

Meet our team

All Members

Management

Board of Directors

Scientific Advisory Board

Kausar N. Samli, Ph.D.

Associate Founder

More About Kausar

Dr. Samli brings a blend of scientific and business experience to leverage his core expertise in strategy, technology, and organizational development. He leads initiatives in product commercialization, strategic partnership development, and investor relations. He has co-founded startups, provided business leadership to technology startups, and received additional training in technology entrepreneurship at Singularity University located at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Dr. Samli co-developed aspects of the Lectenz® technology and has unique expertise in high-throughput screening, molecular evolution, protein engineering, and molecular modeling. In 2016, Georgia Bio named him Emerging Leader of the Year. He served as the CEO of Lectenz Bio from May 2014 through August 2017.

John Nolan, Ph.D.

More About John

Prof. Nolan joined the Scintillon Institute for Biomedical and Bioenergy Research in July 2014. He received his Ph.D. in 1992 in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University. He then took a post-doc position in the Life Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory and served as Director, National Flow Cytometry Resource, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory from 2001-2004. From 2003-2014 he served on the faculty at the La Jolla Bioengineering Institute. His expertise is in the development of multiplexed and high throughput analysis approaches for the characterization of ligand-protein interactions. He has served as Chair for the Standards Committee of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry. He is on the editorial board of the journal Cytometry.

Lori Yang, Ph.D.

CEO, CSO, & Co-Founder

More About Lori

Dr. Yang received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Her expertise is in protein engineering, molecular evolution, and flow cytometry. As CEO and CSO, she leads the development of Lectenz Bio’s platform technologies, corporate partnerships, and non-dilutive funding. Then known as Glycosensors and Diagnostics, she established satellite operations at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS San Diego in 2013. The company is now an alumnus and based at the San Diego Science Center.

Michael Pierce, Ph.D.

More About Michael

Prof. Pierce is Director of the UGA Cancer Center and Distinguished Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the CCRC at UGA. He received his Ph.D. in biology in 1980 from the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the CCRC in April 1991, Dr. Pierce was assistant then associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Staff Investigator of the Papanicolau Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1988 he was the recipient of a five-year Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society. His expertise is in the regulation of intercellular recognition and adhesion involving protein-oligosaccharide interactions.

Shengcheng “Sean” Wu, Ph.D.

Vice President of R&D

More About Sean

Dr. Wu brings extensive experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, glycobiology, and project management. During his tenure at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at University of Georgia he contributed to research management, technology development, and staff mentorship. His contributions to the field of glycoscience include the development of the Glycoenzyme Repository, a key resource for the scientific community. His current responsibilities include scientific and project leadership overseeing the development and validation of the sialic acid Lectenz® reagents. Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. from the University of Szeged in Hungary, followed by post-doctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. The breadth of his impact as a scientist is reflected not only in his contribution to scientific research but also in the training of new scientists as evidenced by his recognition by the University of Georgia for undergraduate research mentorship.

Gerald W. Hart, Ph.D.

More About Gerald

Dr. Hart is Professor and GRA Eminent Scholar in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia. Prior to that he was the Director of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology in 1977 from Kansas State University. He served as a post-doctoral research associate at JHUSOM from 1977 to 1979 when he joined the JHU faculty. His expertise is in dynamic O-glycosylation of nuclear and cytosolic proteins of relevance to cancer and diabetes. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the Presidents Innovator Award from Society for Glycobiology in 2019.

Robert J. Woods, Ph.D.

President, Co-Founder, & Scientific Advisory Board Chair

More About Robert

Prof. Woods holds joint faculty appointments in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Dept. of Chemistry, the Dept. of Infectious Diseases, and the CCRC at the University of Georgia. From 2008 to 2014, he was also Chair of Computational Glycosciences at the School of Chemistry at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His academic expertise is in biophysical carbohydrate chemistry. He is creator of the GLYCAM force field for modeling carbohydrates, a developer of the AMBER molecular modeling package, and integrates experimental and theoretical methods in his research. Prof. Woods guides the productization, commercialization strategy, and research.